Stuffed Mushroom Phyllo Roll & Mango Kale Salad

Don’t we all want a fancy smancy meal that doesn’t require hours in the kitchen? I know I do.

Meet Phyllo dough. It’s here to bring back the fancy in your life!

Cuz we need it.

And I don’t mean Circa 1982 pink carpet fancy either…

Any takers? lol.

Phyllo (also spelled fillo or filo) is fancy smancy. You can buy it pre-made. It’s versatile.

Native to Middle Eastern cooking, Phyllo (which translates to “leaf” in Greek) is a kind of dough that is stretched into paper-thin like sheets and used for savoury and sweet pastries. Think, Baklava. Mmm.

It’s made primarily of flour, water, and a bit of oil, but it’s usually recommended to buy it pre-made due to it’s extremely delicate nature.

If you’re like me, you’ve seen Phyllo dough lurking in the freezer section of your grocery store, but slinked away in fear not knowing what the heck to do with it.

I decided I was going to get over my Phyllo fears, so I picked up some dough, watched a couple You Tube videos, and realized it wasn’t so bad after all!

Here are a few important tips about working with Phyllo dough:

1. It needs to thaw, so you can leave it in the fridge overnight or on the counter for a couple hours.

2. Because the dough is paper-thin, it dries out super fast. When it dries out, it tears very easily. It’s best to wait to open the package until you are ready to use it. Once it is opened and rolled out, place a piece of parchment or wax paper over top and then cover it with a damp tea towel to keep in the moisture. This is essential or your dough will crack much more easily.

3. The goal is not perfection! At first I was terrified of cracking or tearing the dough, but after a few slip-ups, I realized that my pastry would still taste delicious even if it wasn’t perfect. So don’t freak out if it tears a bit on you. Just try to handle it as gently as possible and do what you can.

4. Spread a generous amount of melted Earth Balance on each layer with a pastry brush or to save more time, spray with cooking spray. This not only adds needed moisture, but it creates a delicious buttery pastry once baked. I’m not so sure cooking spray would have tasted as good as my Earth Balance version though!

The first thing you need to do is prepare your filling. I had a bunch of garden kale to use up, as well as local Crimini mushrooms, so I decided to make a mushroom pastry with kale, cheeze, etc. You can use whatever vegetables you prefer though! It’s extremely versatile.

I sliced the mushrooms (making 7 cups) and I cooked it down for about 10 minutes until most of the water evaporated.

Once the filling was ready, I stirred in the cheese, removed it from the heat, and unrolled my Phyllo dough. Make sure you have a damp tea towel and parchment paper ready!

Grab a large baking sheet and line it with parchment paper or a non-stick mat. Carefully peel off 1 piece of dough and place it onto the baking sheet.

At this point, you can either spray each sheet with cooking spray or use my method which is to spread on melted Earth Balance with a pastry brush.

Repeat this process, for about 7 sheets of dough.

You might have a couple ‘flops’ along the way. Don’t fret!

Make sure to keep the dough covered with a damp tea towel throughout this process.

Once you have your 7 layers, scoop on your filling and fold in the sides.

Now roll your pastry all the way up into a log. This part was much easier than I thought!

Now, brush your log with more oil or melted Earth Balance.

Bake in a 350F pre-heated oven for 25-35 minutes until slightly golden. It will be puffy and beautiful.

Slice on a diagonal because you’re fancy. It will be really hard not to inhale this right on the pan! Don’t be alarmed when it flakes all over the place, this is normal.

Behold, the flaky, cheezy, buttery glory.

WANT.

Now.

For breakfast.

The 1/2 cup of Daiya Cheese brought this pastry to a whole other level. I highly recommend it.

Now I just need to figure out what I’m doing with the leftover sheets. Maybe a sweet tart is in my future?

Stuffed Mushroom Phyllo Roll

Perfect for a fancy meal to impress. Hands down, one of the best savoury vegan foods I’ve made. This mushroom pastry is buttery, flaky, cheezy and will have you ohhing and awwing with every sinful bite.

Yield: 2-4 servings (we both ate the entire thing quite easily!)

Ingredients:

7 sheets Phyllo dough, thaw according to package directions

16 oz/7 cups sliced fresh Crimini mushrooms (or mushrooms of choice)

1 tsp olive oil

1 cup chopped sweet onion

2 finely chopped garlic cloves

1-2 tbsp fresh Thyme (or use 1/2 tbsp dried)

Kosher salt, Herbamare, and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 cup kale leaves, roughly torn and stems discarded

1/2 cup shredded Daiya Cheese

~1/2 cup melted Earth Balance, olive oil, OR cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Thaw Phyllo dough according to package directions.

2. In a large skillet, add 7 cups sliced mushrooms and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes until the water cooks off.

3. Add in the garlic, oil, onion, and kale. Cook for another 5-7 minutes on medium-low heat. Add seasonings to taste. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese.

5. Scoop on mushroom filling, roll the edges inward, and then roll into a log. Brush log with oil or butter. Bake at 350F for 25-35 minutes until golden. Slice and enjoy!

I made a Mango Kale salad to go with it which also was quick and easy. I have kale coming out of the wazoo in my garden (among peppers, cukes, onions, etc!), so I’ve been giving it away to friends and also using it daily in my meals.

1. In a large bowl, add kale, half the lemon juice, a tablespoon of oil, and a sprinkle of salt. Massage the kale leaves with your hands for about 1 minute. Set aside.

2. Add the rest of the lemon juice, maple syrup, salt & pepper, and remaining oil into a mason jar. Close lid and shake (alternatively you can whisk in a bowl). Adjust dressing to taste and add more salt, oil, & pepper if needed.

3. Pour dressing over kale and massage well with hands. Add mango and seeds. Place in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour so it can soften and marinate.

First, massage some oil, lemon juice, and salt into the kale leaves.

Shake up your dressing.

Pour on the dressing, massage into kale, add mango and seeds, marinate for an hour or longer, and then serve!

All in all, a wonderful meal which was a nice treat during a time of chaos.

Especially with some Chardonnay…

~~~

Feed Good Tea Giveaway Winner!

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Oh my goodness Angela, this looks truly delicious! I was afraid to use Phyllo dough for years, and I actually tried it out on one of our mushroom recipes and was impressed at how easy it is to use…. you just need patience… lol
– Brittany

Angela this looks incredible! I have helped Jason make baklava before and I remember my heart was practically beating out of my chest — I didn’t want to rip the dough! I know, its just food, but I wanted it to be perfect (and it was and so so good)

Mushrooms, daiya and phyllo — YUMMY!!!! I’ve tried my hand at phyllo to make spanakopita and baklava; they didn’t look pretty but they tasted amazing!!! I’m wondering if there’s anyway to make a vegan version of spanakopita??? Hmmm…sounds like a good challenge!! Happy Tuesday Ange!

Oh my gosh! That looks amazing- and it’s such a versatile technique! You could roll up just about anything! (I’m immediately thinking of apples earth balance and cinnamon in the fall for a sweet version- or heck, you could do apples, thyme and daiya for a non-sweet apple roll…)
I love Kale. I just bought some yesterday b/c it’s been too long since I’ve eaten it. I love to sautee it with lemon juice and garlic and stir it into spaghetti noodles (topped with parm for me, but maybe nutritional yeast to veganize), stir fry it with garbanzo beans, or sautee it and serve it alongside roasted potatoes with plenty of ketchup and hot sauce. It’s also good sauteed with garlic then finished with sliced almonds and earth balance.

Sounds awesome, Ange! I saw this on your facebook page yesterday and couldn’t wait to see the recipe. I have purchased phyllo dough (in fact, it was Fillo Factory as well!) but had the same problem as you with not knowing what to do with the rest!

My Greek mother in law was visiting last month and left me with half a box of unused phyllo dough in my freezer. This looks perfect for using it up! It definitely intimidates me when I look at and usually just shove it out of the way and grab something easier to make.

For some reason- I am now inspired! I am getting off work an hour early today and I am going to try making it with my mother in law’s veggies she gave us from her garden. How did you find the veggies and cheese within the dough? Did it not make it soggy at all?

WOwowow!!! I would have cleared that pan myself! I can’t believe you found spelt phyllo!! That is so very cool. I was thinking yesterday when I saw your FB photo of this meal…I wonder if they make GF phyllo? Probably not, but might have to try the spelt if I can find it! I’m sure Eric thoroughly enjoyed this. My uncles wife + whole family are 100% Greek, so I’m very familiar with the magical powers of phyllo. :)

Looks great!! I recently used phyllo dough for the first time and it was not nearly as awful as I thought it would be! Realizing that perfection isn’t necessary is the key. Once I stopped worrying about tears I found it easier to manage.

Wow, this looks so good! This is officially on my dinner list for later this week. I remember when we were doing renovations at our place – it’s so terrible to have everything so chaotic, but when it’s all done it is so worth it! Hang in there!

Others are right: that sure does look delicious… and I’ll be looking forward to seeing your other creations with phyllo! Only thanks to my mom did I ever learn how to use it, but it’s been a long time since I’ve cooked or baked with it.

I’m a bit envious of you and your garden, what with it overflowing with kale and delicious produce! Over here on the west coast, it continues to cost an arm and a leg… Ah well – such is the small monetary price to pay for something that can be used in incredible creations like this one. :) Hope to be trying this soon for dinner! And hope that I have the self-restraint not to eat the entire recipe by myself in one sitting… (It just looks THAT good.)

I love phyllo dough (as in Baklava, haha) but I’ve had several flops with puff pastry so I’m afraid of actually trying to use the phyllo! But after reading your experience, I think I could feel comfortable enough to try it! Thanks!

I think any seasonal veggies would be great right now. Zucchini, corn, carrots, peppers, onions, etc. You could also add lentils, beans, etc. Change up the sauces! A tomato sauce would be nice as long as it wasn’t too watery. Mexican flavour would be fun. or experiment with different herbs.

oh this looks amazing! I bought some phyllo to use as a topping for pot pies instead of making the crust [I was lazy], and I still have some left…now I’m worried about it being dried out though! We shall see….thanks for the recipe!

Phyllo can be quite challenging the first time around if it’s not thawed hah! I remember I had a hard time the first time b/c it wasn’t thawed and I was in a hurrry. That caused many rips :P This looks so delicious girl~~

Yum!!! This gives my flashbacks to standing on a chair next to the counter making Spanakopita with my mom as a kid. It was her “fancy dinner party” appetizer and the best way to trick us kids into eating spinach! My job was always to brush the butter on the dough and to make sure the dough stayed covered. I love how food can bring back such fun memories! Thanks for taking me back for a minute :-)

We make baklavas with phyllo dough. Lots of butter (or Earth Balance) between layers, top it chopped almonds (with something else, I forgot what! Sugar?) and pour hot maple syrup + eau d’oranger mixture on top of it all! You should try it :)

Where do you find all the time to work on your house? My gosh… we are horrible at getting going on projects. We’ve wanted to paint and decorate our offices for a year now and have gotten nothing done. Mad props go to you, both for this recipe and for your time management skills :)

Wow!! That looks m-m good! It may be worth all the time and delicate preparation. Your blog is one of my favs and has inspired me to create my own blog fittitudefreedom.com. However, you will see it needs alot of cosmetic improvements. Selecting the platform and choosing the style options were oh so overwhelming for a newbie. Any tips, suggestions, resources you have for a new blogger would be greatly appreciated. My blog will be focused on healthy living and wellness as you age. I’m an older blogger at the young at of 45 so I have different ideas to bring to the table. Thank you for any suggestions you can offer. See i don’t even know how to make my web address appear for you to access it with a click .

How is it that you always manage to make my cooking fears (phyllo pastry, pizza dough…) look so easy! You make me feel silly for even being scared of them in the first place. :P These look so delicious. I love cheesy mushroom fillings!

Where did you find spelt phyllo? I hope I can find it in Calgary!
I noticed you had Bonterra organic wine in the pic, just a note on the organic wine, as a lot of people aren’t aware of this. My boyfriend worked at a winery for 5 years, and he told me that the standards for organic wine are weird, and organic wine actually is usually sprayed with more chemicals than non-organic wine! Only real benefit to most organic wines is that they have less sulphites than regular wine.

Despite being in love with spanakopita I’ve always been scared to attempt any thing with phyllo dough. This post has given me the confidence! It’ll definitely add this to my to make list :) The kale looks SO vibrant and beautiful in the salad pictures. Great job!

Phyllo is one of those great things to keep on hand in the freezer, when you want to make something a little fancy, be it sweet or savoury. And I’m with you on choosing butter/faux butter over cooking spray – I think that would taste weird, and not give you that richness that phyllo dishes should have.

Nice adaptation! I recently made the original spanakopita with spinach, Earth Balance and Daiya. Super irresistible. Try the remainder of the phyllo as a dessert stuffed with apples, nut butter and cinnamon :)

The Mango Kale Salad looks perfect. Simple dressing, simple salad, that is so me right there.

My sister is the biggest phyllo user ever. She always keeps it on hand and makes things with it. She pretty much stuffs anything into the squares and bakes them (she entertains tons so it’s an easy hor’s dourves to whip up) and it always seems fancier and harder than it really is.

I’d go in the direction you’re thinking of: sweet! :)

Good luck with all that lovely carpet. Are you sure you don’t want to save it? <–kidding!

Don’t forget to freeze some kale for the winter. I like to freeze it by shoving it in a ziplock bag (fancy) then I just tear off a chunk for my smoothies or I crunch it up when it is frozen to add to soups all winter!

OMG!!!!!! These recipes look so good, i want this for my breakfast now lol. Thanks for another great recipe, ive never tried using this pastry before but it looks so tasty. I wonder if this could convert my mushroom hating fiance?

I sauteed the kale you gave me last night with a bit of olive oil and water. And then steamed it in the pan when the lid was on and it turned out fab. I shook a bit of Italian seasoning on it for some more flavour. It was delish. Thanks again!

ooooo you are SO fancy :) That mushroom phyllo roll looks delicious and would have made the perfect breakfast today. Ah well, I guess I’ll just stick to my cornbread oatmeal and coffee. Next time! Have a great day Angela!

Thanks for posting this great recipe you made using our vegan organic Spelt Fillo Dough. It looks delicious — reminds us of our Aunt Trudy’s Mushroom & Leek Fillo Pocket! We found your post via Twitter and will certainly RT to our followers both there and on Facebook. Thanks also for helping to dispel the myth that fillo is complicated or scary to work with. You provided some excellent handling tips; hopefully your readers will be encouraged to expand their culinary horizons. :)

These recipes look great, but I literally laughed out loud because I saw both of my (only two) food allergies- mangoes and mushrooms- featured in the same blog post. Sadly I won’t be trying these, though they do look tasty!

Love mushrooms, so cannot wait to try your phyllo roll ~ it looks fantastic! I’ve got to tell you, I (and my family) are REALLY enjoying all your recipes…I only recently discovered your site and have already made tons of delicious things!! Thank you for your generosity in sharing these recipes. : )

It’s a shame you’d used up all of your mushrooms, otherwise I’d suggest you try a balsamic reduction/mushroom filling – I just did this for a sweet/savory mushroom tart (with a pastry dough instead of phyllo) and it was knock-my-socks-off good, if I may say so myself! Maybe next time you have mushrooms lying around ;)

Hey! So you said you wanted to figure out what to do with the extra phyllo. The middle east has a dessert called baklava and I love it. The way i make it is very simple. Just a layer of earth balance, sugar (i’m sure agave would work as well) cinnamon and chopped almonds between each layer of phyllo. Before you cook it, cut it diagonally in both directions so it looks like a chain link fence. Cook it for like 30 minutes i think. Maybe less I can’t remember, I’m sorry!!! Anyway, I love it!

I was just thinking I needed a new recipe involving my beloved kale and there was your post! You photos look fantastic and really highlight the food. So fresh and vibrant! Cannot wait to give this a try…now if only I could find gluten-free phyllo.

I love working with phyllo! It look so impressive but is generally quite easy to use. If you have one of those spray bottles where you fill with your own oil then pump you can fill it with melted Earth Balance and spray it on to save time.

Hi – Save the “flop” sheets of phyllo to toss in the bottom of a casserole dish, drizzle a TINY amount of Earth Balance, small sprinkle of brown sugar, top with chopped fresh fruit (or whole berries, top with a crumble of your choice and bake for 35 minutes at 375, a yummy quick dessert…….(from a woman that has experienced her share of phyllo flops)

I found your blog a few months ago and have been following it ever since. I had yet to try cooking but drooled over almost everything you posted! I saw this recipe yesterday and knew I had to try it. I made it for dinner last night. Delicious!!! Even my non-vegan boyfriend loved it! Keep up the good work. I love your recipe ideas!!!

I have one in the oven right now and it looks amazing!! The only thing is (and it is just as much my impatience) you have 16oz/7 cups of mushrooms. I just went with the cups and used a TON of shrooms and red bell pepper to fill the gap for about 5 cups and said this has got to be enough. I think you meant to write 2 cups. Looks like we’ll have breakfast stuffed phyllo! Nummers!

The phyllo rolls looked so amazing that I made a batch, except with chard instead of kale and a zucchini from our weekly farm share. They were so delicious, they’re definitely going to be a dish in my regular rotation, especially now that I have the hang of how to work with phyllo dough. It was a bit tricky at the start (especially because I forgot to brush on the essential Earth Balance…).

I just wanted to thank you for that awesome recipe, even though I am not vegan or a vegetarian for that matter, we really enjoyed it. I made it the other night and hubby ate 2 pieces! I was a little nervous about the Kale, i had read it was bitter.
I can’t let go of meat all together but we are trying to eat half our dinners without it and finding recipes like yours is helping.

Thanks, Angela! I ended up making it last night and it was awesome! I sub’d baby spinach for kale, and vegan sausage for mushroom. I followed your step by step instructions about the phyllo SO carefully and it paid off! It was perfect. Thank you!!

OMG!!!! I made this dish last night for my husband and I – All I can say for the both of us is Mmmmmmmmmmm :-) I just had abdominal surgery 2 weeks ago (partial colon, appendix removal) and am ‘easing’ back into my healthy eating so I used spinach instead of kale and went lighter on the cheese. I did add some leeks, shredded zucchini, shredded sweet potato and 1 chopped parsnip to this recipe. Mine didn’t turn out quite as pretty as yours but it was yummy delicious! Thank you for posting this awesome recipe….going to try the Buckwheat Flour Pizza with Roasted Tomato Basil Pesto and Roasted Tomato, Garlic, & Onion Coconut Soup next week. Thank you for making meal planning so easy!! You rock :-)

Made this on Tuesday for dinner; YUM! Thanks for all the great recipes! All of the dinners I made this week were taken from your site. I just added a blog post about them! Your camera takes much better pics than mine tho! :)
p.s. Your tahini-lemon dressing is amazing!

hey angela i love your blog im not a vegan but i still love and try ur recipies i hail all the way from egypt so i dont always find all the ingredients
Would love it if you evr come this way Egypt has some pretty decent vegan food like molokheya (green soup) which im sure u wld love
i just made the chocolate chip cookie dough and it is divineee

i have a question though last night i prepared the phylo stuffed 2 with mushrooms and another 2 with pasterami and cheese :-D its my bday and im having my friends over

but i havent baked it yet and im afraid it will be too flaky do you recommend adding some milk before i bake or would it be too soft?

Hey Angela!
Do you think you could do a reduced sugar Baklava recipe? I LOVE Baklava but most recipes tend to have tons of proccessed sugar. Thanks!
P.S. My husband and I are addicted to the chocolate peanut butter crunch balls for the blizzard recipe. Amazing. The whole thing is really.

Hi Angela,
My parents and I are vegans. In my free time, when I’m home from college, I LOVE to cook. I’m a huge follower of your blog – absolutely love your recipes and lifestyle approach. For my Mom’s 50th birthday dinner yesterday, I made this recipe – mango kale salad and stuffed mushroom phyllo rolls. WOW! Probably one of the best recipes I’ve ever made/eaten. Everyone loved it. It was the first time that I used Daiya cheese and I must say it added a lot to the dish (like you said!). Now I have extra, so I might try making a pizza with it this weekend. Anyway, just wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for all of your recipes/posts.

i made this today for thanksgiving dinner, and it was absolutely delicious! my only problem, though, was trying to stuff that massive amount of mushrooms into the dough and roll it. there was soooo much filling that i could have easily made two or even three rolls! still good, though! thanks for the recipe. :)

I can’t believe I just discovered your blog a week ago! Within this week I’ve made a few of your recipes and told just about everyone I know about this blog (my vegan and non-vegan friends and family). Everything has come out great and been surprisingly easy!!! I’m very thankful that everything is plant-based and has very few processed ingredients!

Based on what is in my freezer and garden, I made this with puff pastry, lots more kale, added some parsley, no onion, and regular cheddar cheese. Just wonderful, the mushrooms give it some serous heft. It is key to get the filling ingredients pretty dry, though, of the bottom crust stays a little gooey.
Thanks for the recipe!